I have had a pair of Asics Gel Kayano running shoes sitting on the shelf in my garage for over a year. I got them at a really good price after the model was discontinued ($60 off). Right after I got them I went to an orthopedic specialist to talk to him about my feet and the discomfort and numbness I was experiencing. His thought was that my motion control shoes might be causing trouble because of the stiffness on the outer sole causing too much pressure on a nerve in my foot. He suggested custom inserts which I really wanted due to my shorter right leg and if they solved the issues I was having with my feet then great. So this meant I would need to go to a neutral shoe to see if the motion control shoes were the problem. Well, turned out it was our friend ms that was (and is still to a degree) causing issues with my feet.

One of the things the doc suggested was switching back and forth between my neutral shoes with the inserts and the motion control model. I haven’t done it too much as the neutral shoes felt a lot better, but on occasion I would put the old mc model on. They were quite a bit lighter than the heavier Mizuno model (and plus the inserts, which aren’t light) and I found myself running faster in them. I ran on an older pair as I felt I still had miles left on them. Recently I have noticed that they really felt like they were worn out despite having only 400 miles (I was thinking I could get 500 or more out of them.) So today I decided, what the heck lets pull out the new pair and give them a whorl. They felt great! I think I will run in them one more time before Saturday and wear them for the race. The Gel Kayano is a really good shoe, probably my favorite I have ever run with.

I found out yesterday that MS Lifelines will not (as expected) offer me any further assistance with the rebif. Though if I go off of it for three months, then I can restart for a free year. Weird? So I am going to use my current insurance to max out what they will pay for rebif (2 months) and then apply for Oregon Medical Insurance Pool in a month or so as they have no cap on rebif. Seems like the best option I have.